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Thursday, 12 June 2014

Liberal Democrat Manifesto: The Parental Guarantee

Liberal Democrats have today announced that the Liberal Democrat manifesto will include a commitment to a “parental guarantee” – so that every parent can be confident that their child will be taught a core curriculum by a properly qualified teacher.

Our policy, first passed by our federal conference in March 2013, would change legislation so that, by September 2016, all schools will have the same requirement to employ qualified teachers. We have also planned for every state school to deliver a minimum curriculum entitlement, setting out the basic skills and knowledge that every child needs.

These plans have been strongly supported by both the National Association for Head Teachers (NAHT) and the Association for School and College Leaders (ASCL) – who between them represent the overwhelming majority of head teachers in this country.

In 2012, Michael Gove announced he would remove the requirement for academies to employ qualified teachers. As well as this, academies and free schools are exempt from teaching the National Curriculum. This has meant that some schools have abused their freedom over the curriculum, excluding vital subjects.

The Liberal Democrats want to provide greater clarity to all schools on what should be taught. We believe that our children should have the chance to study content that is as engaging and stretching as in the best performing countries.